Cara Koscinski tried to purchase a cake from Publix with the words "Summa Cum Laude" written on top, but the store refused because of the use of "profanity." (Cara Koscinski)

When Cara Koscinski's son Jacob graduated from high school with the honor of summa cum laude, the proud Charleston, S.C., mother wanted to celebrate.

Jacob had completed his courses through a home school association, where a third party does the grading, and received a 4.89 GPA. His mother organized a graduation party and ordered a custom cake for the occasion online through a local Publix grocery store.

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"Congrats Jacob! Summa Cum Laude class of 2018," she wrote in the message box marked "cake message option," according to her Facebook post.

Yet when she tried to submit the form, a message reading "profane/special characters not allowed" appeared and three hyphens censored the word cum, which means "with" in Latin.

"I didn't understand why they would flag it for profanity," she said. "I thought it was an error."

She tried again, only to receive the error message once more.

"When I realized I thought 'oh my gosh, this is crazy,'" she said.

She then used the special instructions box for the bakery, explaining the term, which translates to "with the highest distinction," and writing that the system was "mistaking the word 'cum' for something inappropriate."

When the big day rolled around on Saturday, Cara was busy prepping so she sent her husband to get the cake. She said he had no idea what the cake was supposed to say — and hadn't checked the cake when he bought it. When it was time to open the box, with family and friends gathered around, the Koscinskis read the censored message: "Congrats Jacob! Summa --- Laude Class of 2018!"

"It was really humiliating," said Jacob, who had to explain to his 70-year-old grandmother why the word was censored. "Really humiliating."

Once the initial embarrassment wore off, Jacob and Cara said everyone found the humor in it.

"Once we all understood, it was kind of funny," Jacob said. "Everyone had a good sense of humor about it."

The grocery store offered Cara Koscinski a refund for the $70 cake and a $150 gift card.

"Satisfying our customers is our top priority," Publix said in a statement to the Daily News. "You can feel confident that this situation has been addressed, and the appropriate business areas and leaders are involved."

And while she won't be going to Publix for her next celebratory purchase, she said she could appreciate the irony of the situation.

"He was handed a Bible at graduation because it was a whole Christian ceremony, and then he had to come and talk about that three-letter word," Cara Koscinski said through a laugh.